Namibia is asking its mining sector to spend just 0.04% of annual revenue to sponsor the country’s national soccer league, ensuring the continuation of top-flight football.
In a ministerial statement to parliament delivered on her behalf, Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts, and Culture Minister Sanet Steenkamp announced that the government will form a consortium of mining, financial, and retail companies to raise N$20 million for the Namibian Premiership Football League (NPFL).
The appeal follows the withdrawal of Debmarine Namibia, which had invested N$49 million over the past three years to stabilise the league after a lengthy suspension, and at one point committed N$18 million in a single season.
Football remains one of Namibia’s most popular sports, played in all 121 constituencies and serving as the primary pathway to the Namibian national team, also known as the Brave Warriors.
“Football is the hope for the Namibian children, it is the inspiration for our youth, and it is the glue that binds our social fabric. It is therefore our collective responsibility to ensure that football continues,” Steenkamp said.
The call comes against the backdrop of a mining industry that earned N$52.3 billion in revenue in 2024, equivalent to 13.3% of the country’s GDP.
Mining companies spent N$24.1 billion on local procurement and paid a wage bill of N$7.996 billion to more than 20,800 employees.
Against this scale, the N$20 million needed to rescue the NPFL is just 0.04% of annual revenue, 0.08% of procurement, and 0.25% of the wage bill — a fraction of what mining contributes to the economy each year.
Namibian mines have a long tradition of sponsoring sports, although mainly through athletics rather than football.
The Rössing Marathon Championship, first held in 1992 in Swakopmund, is backed by Rössing Uranium and today awards more than N$100,000 in prize money, with winners pocketing N$40,000 each, including bonuses. The Navachab Half Marathon in Karibib paid out N$345,000 in prize money in 2025 and incurred overall costs exceeding N$700,000, including logistics.
The Husab Marathon, located near Arandis, has offered recent prize pools of approximately N$200,000. Meanwhile, Rosh Pinah Zinc supports the Rosh Pinah Mountain Experience with trail runs for local schools and communities.
These events have become national fixtures, demonstrating how mining companies fund sports on a large scale and establish themselves in community life. Yet when it comes to football, Debmarine has been the lone mining sponsor.
In other parts of Africa and beyond, mining companies play a much larger role in football.
In Ghana, Gold Fields has sponsored the Black Stars national team for years, raising its contribution from US$1.2 million to US$1.5 million per year, and also funded Medeama SC in the Premier League.
In Sierra Leone, Leone Rock Metal Group sponsored the national league, contributing US$80,000 in one season and US$150,000 in the 2024/25 season, which saw the competition renamed the Leone Rock Premier League. In Zimbabwe, How Mine FC carried the name of its sponsoring gold operation in the Premier Soccer League until 2018.
In Zambia, Lumwana Mining Company owns Lumwana Radiants FC, competing in the top division, while Mauritania’s iron-ore giant SNIM sponsors ASC SNIM, its own football club.
Beyond Africa, Australia’s Hellyer Metals has partnered with Brisbane Roar in the A-League.
When compared internationally, Namibia’s request is strikingly modest.
Gold Fields’ US$1.5 million annual spend on Ghana’s Black Stars already exceeds the entire N$20 million Namibia is seeking to save its national league.
Closer to home, Debmarine itself has spent more than double that amount in just three years, showing that the precedent for large-scale mining support of football already exists inside Namibia.
By international standards, Namibia’s appeal to its mines is modest.
The N$20 million target is dwarfed by the billions mining generates each year and represents only a fraction of what mining houses in other African countries contribute to national football.
The government hopes that the same companies that fund marathons and community runs will now step forward to keep football alive.
